League of Legends World Analysis, Group Stage - SSW vs. AHQ Game #1

Samsung White vs. AHQ E-Sports Game #1

2v1 Lanes, AHQ Top

Bans

Fizz Alistar

Lucian Ryze

Zed Zilean

Picks

1. Lee Sin 2. Twisted Fate

3. Thresh 2. Khazix

3. Maokai 4. Nidalee

5. Twitch 4. Jinx

5. Yasuo 6. Blitzcrank

Lane Match-ups – Samsung White

Top -

Maokai should have a safe time top. This lane is fairly passive. Nidalee will try to harass with auto attacks and spears but Maokai will be able to sustain as long as he does not get hit by spears and hunted by Nidalee. Maokai should not attempt to harass Nidalee, just farm safely and only fight if Nidalee tries to go all-in. Danger point will be when Nidalee picks up Trinity Force, but Maokai should have started scaling his Rod of Ages at this point. Expect the lane to be primarily 1v1 until Twisted Fate reaches 6, then be prepared for the two or 3 man gank.

Mid -

With proper flow and wind wall management, Yasuo should be fine in this lane. Blocking out stun cards in ganks will be essential. Other than that he should be able to stay close to the same farm as Twisted Fate until 6, in which Yasuo gets heavy kill pressure against Twisted Fate. May also go in at an earlier level if he can get in range by dashing after Twisted Fate uses pick a card. Ganks with Lee Sin will be highly effective, especially once they both reach 6.

Bot -

I really feel that Thresh is the superior laner compared to Blitzcrank. While Blitzcrank can land a hook onto Twitch and create a favorable trade, Thresh lantern will prevent the kill. However, a Thresh hook onto Jinx can very easily result in a Kill for SSW's side. Twitch will be able to out-trade Jinx early, while Jinx can out-range Twitch. This match really becomes one of who can land/dodge the hooks and who if Jinx can poke without getting hit by Twitch cask/expunge combo, with the favor slightly leaning towards SSW's lane pair. Both sides can have successful ganks that follow up a hook. Twitch/Thresh will have to watch out for Twisted Fate's level 6 as well.

Jungle -

Lee Sin versus Khazix is a fairly even farming match-up. Both have good clear times. Lee Sin will have a slight edge in ganks, especially with the lane partners that he has. Good CC from Thresh and Maokai as well as an amazing synergy at level 6 with Yasuo.

Lane Match-ups – AHQ E-Sports

Top -

Nidalee has a nice safe lane against Maokai. She will be able to harass him, out-sustain him if they fight trades (until she is out of mana), and will have kill potential if she can land a spear and Hunt Maokai. Will have her highest pressure point as soon as she picks up Trinity Force. Must be aware of early Lee Sin ganks. Being pushed up too far around level 2-4 could result in her getting caught by the CC and slow of Maokai/Lee Sin.

Mid -

Twisted Fate has a bit of a scary lane. While he should be safe for the first 5 levels, he will be much weaker once Yasuo gets his ultimate. Before then, Twisted Fate must do his best to out-farm Yasuo and attempt to keep him at his tower while also staying safe when his Pick a Card stun is down. Once Twisted Fate hits 6, he should focus his ultimate's on Bot lane, preferably when Thresh's hook is down, and then Top lane once Nidalee reaches her Trinity Force power spike. BEWARE of Lee Sin ganks after 6, NEED to heavily ward to stay safe.

Bot -

I really feel that Thresh is the superior laner compared to Blitzcrank. While Blitzcrank can land a hook onto Twitch and create a favorable trade, Thresh lantern will prevent the kill. However, a Thresh hook onto Jinx can very easily result in a Kill for SSW's side. Twitch will be able to out-trade Jinx early, while Jinx can out-range Twitch. This match really becomes one of who can land/dodge the hooks and who if Jinx can poke without getting hit by Twitch cask/expunge combo, with the favor slightly leaning towards SSW's lane pair. One thing that Blitzcrank/Jinx can do is for Blitzcrank to call out his hooks, right as or .5s before he uses it so Jinx can throw down her Chompers in the same instant, allowing them to arm before Twitch is able to regain control of his character. Both sides can have successful ganks that follow up a hook. Once Twisted Fate hits 6, try to bait out Thresh hook when Twisted Fate is in a position to use his ultimate and gank.

Jungle -

Fairly even match-up against Lee Sin. Should farm primarily and be ready to counter-engage Lee Sin if he ganks. Focus should be on mid lane pre level 6 if Yasuo is not pushed into his tower. Otherwise reliance will be on Blitzcrank hook unless he can sneak into a side lane bush. Needs to be very wary of ganking middle after level 6. A good Lee Sin knock-up onto him and Twisted Fate would be disastrous.

Team Compositions/Strategy – Samsung White

*Win Condition – Play safe in lane and do not let AHQ get a lead. Once Yasuo is level 6, fight small skirmishes and use the synergy the team has with him to take small fight wins. Transition into 5v5 team-fights and muscle down AHQ. Alternate option of having Yasuo split-push.

Samsung White's team is very much team-fight oriented with a strong front-line in Maokai, solid peel in Thresh, heavy damage in Twitch/Yasuo. The other key point to this team composition is its amazing synergy with Yasuo. Every other lane has a way to provide Yasuo with a knock-up for his ultimate and he will have his pick of the litter on who and when to use it. SSW's focus will want to be on Yasuo early to mid game, using him for small skirmishes with Maokai and Lee Sin, taking full advantage of the synergy. Come mid to late game, SSW will want to group up and go for the objective pushes and control in 5v5 scenarios. Yasuo can also split push, if SSW gets far enough ahead.

Team Compositions/Strategy – AHQ E-Sports

*Win Condition – Get fed off of Blitzcrank pulls and Twisted Fate ultimates. Get Nidalee strong enough to split-push and then rely on her split-push to win the game while the rest of AHQ play defensive wave clear and very slow and safe (highly warded) objective pushing. Avoid team-fights at all costs unless very far ahead.

I honestly feel that AHQ's composition lacks synergy. The concept of their team is all about getting picks and having Nidalee split-push. It is absolutely essential for this team composition to get ahead and stay ahead. If they get behind at all, the likelihood of coming back is very low. AHQ's team-fight is very lack luster compared to SSW's. In an ideal scenario, AHQ will go even or slightly ahead in lane against SSW until level 6. At level 6 Twisted Fate will get the Bot lane or Nidalee ahead (especially Nidalee once she has kill pressure on Maokai). Once Nidalee is able to split-push, Twisted Fate and Khazix will wave clear, either defensively or applying pressure as 4 away from Nidalee, but still in range for Twisted Fate to support her if she gets ganked. In the 4 man situation, AHQ will hope for a good Blitzcrank hook into Twisted Fate stun and Jinx snare. With Nidalee ahead and applying pressure, AHQ will slowly whittle away at SSW, spreading them thin until they can take objectives at the advantage. This is their ideal. However, against SSW's team it is very unlikely. The synergy with Yasuo will allow Maokai to catch and prep Nidalee for the Yasuo gank in split-push situations. Outside of the split-push, as long as Twitch and Yasuo do not get pulled in by Blitzcrank, SSW will be fine. If Blitzcrank pulls Maokai, SSW will engage. If he pulls Lee Sin, and Twisted Fate's stun card is not already active and in flight, a quick dash/flash and Lee Sin ultimate will set Yasuo up, or even just an ultimate towards AHQ's team getting a multiple man knock-up. All in all, AHQ's win condition will be very hard to pull off.

Game Notes -

Twisted Fate starts with Cloth Armor instead of Doran's Ring. Going for early Zhonya's but loses out on lane pressure against Yasuo though he gains some safety.

AHQ want to go for a quick invade with Blitzcrank, however SSW obviously know this and ward EVERY entrance. Samsung White get knowledge of the invade, move to counter-engage. The tri-bush ward gives SSW complete knowledge of where EDG is. Either they move back through it (as they do) or they go around towards red. SSW set up as 5 in the bush above red. EDG does not ward, hook, or spear check and instead face checks into 5. SSW gets the jump onto AHQ with a great flay, and with a better level 1 fight if they don't get blitz hooked, SSW clean up the fight, getting 5 kills for 1. AHQ is now behind with a team comp they have to be ahead with. This is essentially the game.

Lee Sin is able to get great clear speed with his now, spirit stone start and with Maokai jungling with him. Get an early 4 man dive onto Nidalee for the kill.

Maokai then tp's top to a huge wave of experience, Jinx having been unable to freeze the lane after the failed invade.

Lee Sin moves top, Maokai and Lee are able to get an easy kill onto Jinx.

Gold lead is now 12k to 8k. All lanes are far ahead, and Lee sin is already running Mobility boots.

An ill advised fight for AHQ's red buff leads to SSW getting 4 kills to 1. SSW take control of AHQ's top side jungle and proceed to take kills in it and put pressure on top lane while Yasuo split-pushes bot lane.

AHQ 2 man gank attempt on Yasuo in bot lane, Maokai immediately TP's to prevent it.

Blitzcrank makes some good hooks, SSW once again gets overconfident (though its very justified this time, 26k gold to 16k gold) and go for some crazy kills that get themselves killed.

At this point there is not much to say. SSW runs around trying to get kills, sometimes getting themselves killed but getting more kills than they give up.

First dragon isn't taken until 15 minutes.

Much the same continues until SSW idly and naturally push up into AHQ's base for the win.

End Game Notes -

There really isn't much to say here other than AHQ tried to cheese a level 1 Blitzcrank hook, and did so in a poor fashion. That late into the invade, AHQ should have been using Nidalee spear, Blitzcrank hook, and Jinx zap to check the bushes instead of face-checking both red bushes. AHQ's invade was very predictable, sloppily played, and with a weaker level 1, barring a catch. AHQ put themselves in a bad position and because of lazy play during the invade, lost the game at level 1.

What AHQ Needed to Do -

Play a more tricky invade. Their invade was too predictable and it cost them. Perhaps an attempt at a hook from dragon pit with an oddly place ward in SSW's red jungle. A rush down mid into the side bush and move through it to the red side of the mid lane river bush, put a ward over the wall and wait for a hook there. Even just a straight rush into SSW's red jungle from the top entrance to it would have been less expected, and more likely to split up SSW to prevent the counter-engage. The invade AHQ choose was simply too predictable and too risky. On top of that fact, they did a very very poor job at checking bushes and must have assumed that SSW had moved to take AHQ's red. Blitzcrank should have just blind fired his hook into that top bush, or at the very least had Nidalee spear or Jinx zap. There was literally nothing to lose from them doing so, even if there was no one there.